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ABC's Shameless Dempsey Push Continues

Everyone wants a piece of Patrick Dempsey, and not just interns at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC), owner of Grey's Anatomy and beneficiary of its soaring popularity, continues its promotional efforts tonight by airing Sweet Home Alabama, co-starring Dempsey, one night after he was featured on the network's Barbara Walters Special.

The 2002 film starring Reese Witherspoon as an Alabama girl who runs away from home and reinvents her self as a New York socialite (where she is wooed by Dempsey's character) drew mixed critical reviews but was a box office hit, grossing more than $127 million domestically. So I guess it's not entirely unfounded that ABC would air it tonight. Just conveniently timed, don't you think?

Dempsey plays the dreamy Derek Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy and was practically as charming -- albeit humble and even a little insecure -- during Walters' interview last night. He candidly discussed his lifelong battle with dyslexia, his struggle for quality acting work for a prolonged period of time, and his failed first marriage to his former manager (a woman 27 years older than he).

Walters also interviewed Matthew McConaughey, Mariah Carey and Oscar contender George Clooney in her 25th TV special. Speaking of the Academy Awards (which ABC also owns the rights to), they will be on TV Sunday night. Sadly, that means no new escapades for Meredith, George, and McDreamy et al., until March 12. Boo!

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There's a reason I said I'd be happy alone. It wasn't 'cause I thought I'd be happy alone. It was because I thought if I loved someone and then it fell apart, I might not make it. It's easier to be alone, because what if you learn that you need love and you don't have it? What if you like it and lean on it? What if you shape your life around it and then it falls apart? Can you even survive that kind of pain? Losing love is like organ damage. It's like dying. The only difference is death ends. This? It could go on forever.

Sometimes the future changes quickly and completely, and we’re left with only the choice of what to do next. We can choose to be afraid of it, to stand there trembling not moving, assuming the worst that can happen or we step forward into the unknown and assume it will be brilliant.